This family has been stuck in an airport for over 40 days

Still
from a video showing Hasan Ahmad in the disused smoking area
where he has been living with his family for over 40 days
now.BBC

Hasan Ahmad’s family has been living inside Terminal E at
Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport for over 40 days, the
BBC reports.

The Syrian Kurdish family of six recently fled their home in
northern Iraq after ISIS militants kept coming closer. The family
decided to flee to Russia where Ahmad's wife
has family.

But the nightmare began as soon as they got to the airport.

At first, they were put in detention for two weeks after the
Russian authorities claimed they were using fake Syrian passports
and illegally trying to cross into Russia, according to the
BBC.

Most of the family had Iraqi passports, but the two youngest
children, who are 3 and 7 years old, got Syrian ones
through Hasan's nationality.

Their asylum request was rejected because of the allegedly fake
Syrian passports, though Syrian officials have since
confirmed they are genuine, according to ABC.

The family is appealing the decision, but in the meantime they
are stuck at the airport because they're not allowed to step
on Russian soil.

Still
from a BBC video showing Hasan and his four children in the
disused smoking area.BBC

The Ahmads have since been living in an old glass smoking area
surrounded by the few bags they brought with them.

The situation stressed Ahmad's wife, Gulistan, so much that a
couple of weeks ago she collapsed and had to be rushed to
hospital, where two guards were positioned outside her ward,
according to the BBC.

"We left our homes, everything. We just wanted to live in peace
like other people. But they refused us asylum. They said this is
not Europe," Gulistan told the BBC.

Now all the family can do is wait, not knowing when or if their
appeal will be processed and having to depend on the generosity
of strangers for food and warm clothes. The UN also brings them
big water bottles every five days.

Still
from a BBC video the disused smoking area where the Ahmad family
has been living.BBC

The situation has only gotten worse recently. According
to the BBC, the heaters stopped working over two weeks ago,
making it even harder for the family to stay warm and dry.

"I don't know how people can be so heartless. I don't understand.
People are fleeing from war, from violence," Ahmad told the BBC.

The civil war raging in Syria — as well as ISIS' reign of terror
in different parts of Iraq — have displaced millions of people
from those countries. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Europe
and other countries, and many have yet to find a permanent
home.